”God had to take her. He needed another angel.”
“Why didn’t he just make one…another angel. I mean, he’s God after all.”
Rabbit Hole deals with the unimaginable pain that comes from the death of one’s child. The film is based on the Pulitzer Prize winning play by David Lindsay-Abaire and its original Broadway production starred John Slattery and Cynthia Nixon. Nicole Kidman (who also served as producer) and Aaron Eckhart take over the roles of Becca and Howie, a married couple still reeling from the loss of their 4-year old son, Danny. The boy ran into the street to chase the family dog when he was struck by a car.
Howie and Becca slip into empty routine to put on a mask of normalcy, but each one is on a completely different wavelength when it comes to handling their sorrow. Becca donates all of her child’s clothes to charity and wishes to sell the house. Any little reminder is too much to bear. Howie clings to those same reminders and obsesses over one in particular, a short video recorded on his cell phone. He dutifully attends group therapy sessions, but finds no solace while Becca in these touchy-feely pity parties. Unable to communicate with his wife, Howie grows closer to Gaby (Sandra Oh), a member of the group whose own marriage seems to mirror the problems of the protagonists. Meanwhile, Becca enters into an oddly comforting confrontation with Jason (Miles Teller), the teenage driver who accidentally killed Danny. Jason draws upon his part in the tragedy (along with his experiences with an absentee father) to create a comic book involving wormholes and parallel universes.
Rabbit Hole was directed for the screen by an unlikely choice in John Cameron Mitchell, known more for flamboyant pictures like Hedwig and the Angry Inch and the art-porn Shortbus. Mitchell gives the film a somber tone without devolving into soap opera melodrama. Yet, Mitchell cannot hide the stage-y nature of the piece. Rabbit Hole sometimes feels less like a film and more like an actors’ showcase. As such, the performances are strong and make up for the lack of a cinematic feel.
Nicole Kidman (looking less plastic than usual) gives one of her best performances in years as a grieving mother filled with sorrow and misplaced anger. She snaps at her own husband, her pregnant and irresponsible sister (Tammy Blanchard), and another mother at the supermarket. She also offers one of the film’s highlights, a darkly comic moment responding to a mournful parents’ comfort in God. Dianne Wiest co-stars as Becca’s mother, Nat, who is still trying to come to grips with the death of her own son from a drug overdose years ago. It’s a performance largely forgotten during awards season, one that doesn’t dip into buckets of tears or histrionics. Yet, Wiest is there to convey the sense that sorrow never goes away and that “bearable” is likely the best anyone can do.
Rabbit Hole isn’t an entirely successful film. It is dry drama, but can be poignant and powerful at times.
Rating: ** ½ (*****)
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